Sunday, September 7, 2008

The seasons are changing quickly in our part of the country. About 2 weeks ago we had hot and humid weather and this week it has been mild and cooler. Fall is in the air. Time to change out the wardrobes.

Because of the cooler weather, I decided to take a trip up to the attic to see what was there for the kids, in terms of winter clothing. Our son is pretty much set due to a large amount of hand-me-downs, with the exception of winter gear and a few long sleeve shirts. Our daughter, on the other hand, had very little in terms of warm clothing. I wanted very much to buy her reused and consignment clothing, but knew that would take time, some driving around, and an incremental wardrobe build that I didn't feel like we had time for, per the latest forecast.

I wound up going to a department store and bought her a mess of brand new clothing. I spent more money than I wanted to. Of course, she loves her new wardrobe, so that made me happy. And she sure looks cute in her brand new duds.

But I couldn't help but feel some pangs of regret. "Why didn't I plan ahead better? Winter comes every year!" If I had planned better, I could have spent less money AND bought mostly reused clothing. Also, planning ahead allows you the time to be choosy about the reused items you buy.

I'm not into beating myself up over little things, so I'll let go of this one. But I learned a lesson. Be like the ant in the old Aesop's fable: Plan ahead for winter or pay the price!

1 comment:

Kat has plenty of clothes for the end of the warm weather, thanks to her mom's boyfriend's mother (that's a mouthful!) who went overboard with clothing for Kat's birthday.

I'm a little concerned whether she'll have enough clothing for winter. She has several items, but she's at that in between stage where 5s are sometimes too small, but 6 and 6x are too large. I hope enough of what she already has will fit well enough to get by.

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Welcome to "Striving Green", the blog that focuses on one family's attempt to become more environmentally friendly by the standbys - eating organically, keeping it local, reusing, reducing, and recycling. I call this blog "Striving Green", with an emphasis on the "striving". We're not perfect; we're learning as we go along.

I'll tell about the "green" successes and challenges we have with day-to-day issues as well as new discoveries I stumble upon. I'll pose questions to readers, looking for your thoughts and suggestions on how to improve upon reducing our consumption of resources. Sharing information and "making ripples" is something I enjoy. I hope you enjoy reading and become inspired to "strive green" too.